NTSB: LIRR train was speeding before crash

The Long Island Rail Road train that slammed into the end of the line at Brooklyn's Atlantic Terminal Wednesday was traveling above the track speed limit, officials say.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jim Southworth says it will take three to seven days to fully investigate the accident scene before they determine what caused it. The accident injured more than 100 people.

The entrance of tracks 5 and 6, where the accident occurred, remained closed Thursday.

Federal investigators say they are interviewing at least three crew members of the LIRR train. Officials say the train's engineer is cooperating with the investigation, but he may not have any memory of the moment of impact. Investigators say he was working an overnight shift and was on his second-to-last trip.

The train's data recorder was recovered earlier and the engineer underwent drug testing, but the results of the test were not immediately available.

Many passengers had been standing as they prepared to get off the train at the last stop. The impact sent them tumbling through the cars. At least one of the injured riders is suing the LIRR for $5 million.

The front of the slow-moving train hit a bumping block as it pulled into the terminal, left the tracks and smashed into a small structure, apparently a work area. A rail pierced the floor of a train car, authorities say.

About 100 people were treated for minor injuries after the 8:30 a.m. crash. The most serious injury appeared to be a broken leg.

Mechanical failure and operator error have not yet been ruled out as causes of the crash, investigators say.